Balancing Beads, weird problem!

[cmcveay]

New wheels and tires (AEV Borah w/ Beadlock rings) wrapped with Kanati Trail Hog 37x12.5-17 and OEM TPMS Sensors. I went with balancing beads instead of weights and I've been happy with how they work. Until today... First time airing down since putting the wheels and tires on the Jeep. When I removed the airdown fitting, the valve stem kept leaking air. Tried several things and it didn't stop so I grabbed the tools and pulled the valve stem core out. It looked like a little gasket had torn but on closer inspection, I realized it was several tiny beads trapped and holding the valve stem open. It's the darned balancing beads!. I cleared it, put it back in and it was fine. This happened on 3 out of 4 wheels and on all 3, the valve stem was between 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock or the bottom half of the rotation. I had to do the same thing to all 3 to get them to seal. Airing up did not present the same problem and only 1 valve stem didn't close up right away. I hit it with the air again and it was fine.

So, other than making sure the valve stem is in the upper half of the circle when airing down, has anyone else come across this and found a better fix? I'm not giving up on the balance beads this easy and I'm hoping there's another solution waiting to be found. Thanks everyone.

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[ShadowsPapa]

You aren't the only one. There's been a lot of back and forth on them - seems to me, most has been negative.

This post talks of the same thing. Didn't take 5 seconds to find it in a search -

 

[JTenn]

On some applications I believe they work. I know alot of people use them in the motorcycle world but I would never use them on a high speed bike. Well I'll never be on one of those bikes anyway so it doesn't matter to me. As you have now seen they are problematic for anyone that intends to purposely deflate their tires. I'm also not sold on them being used for such a heavy tire as our trucks use so I'll stick with the old fashioned tried and true wheel weights.

 

[RodRecket]

You aren't the only one. There's been a lot of back and forth on them - seems to me, most has been negative.

This post talks of the same thing. Didn't take 5 seconds to find it in a search -

Thought the first clip looked familiar....because I actually said it. I stand by my statement, I will never go with balancing beads again.

OP, you will consistently have that issue.

 

[Reddout99]

I would agree with others here. I only know of a couple people that use them and they are on motorcycles.
Thoughts on removing the tires, getting the beads out of there and go with a more traditional balance method?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thought the first clip looked familiar....because I actually said it. I stand by my statement, I will never go with balancing beads again.

OP, you will consistently have that issue.

When I read his first post - I thought, I've never used them - but a while back read about similar, and other problems. A quick search found my memory every few months isn't that bad.

 

[cmcveay]

Thanks everyone. We are headed up to Utah for a few days of wheeling so I'll plan on airing down once and leave it that way. I guess when I get back I'll be having a little party to break 'em down, vacuum out the beads and visit a tire store. From my experience with them though, I'm going to keep them in mind for trailer tires and the like - they do work well for the intended purpose.

 

[Hootbro]

I will admit I do not have jack for personal experience with balance beads, but they just strike me as an abrasive over time in use. ?‍

 

[KrispyKotex]

I’ve used them in the past on motorcycles and UTVs but have stopped. If you do a search, you’ll find out that most of them tend to wear down and will become a problem eventually. Even if you place the valve stem near the top when you air down, some of the smaller worn beads will lodge in the valve stem. Would be Ok to run in a bike or UTV tire, as they are not normally aired down a lot, but in a Jeep tire that is, you will have ongoing issues with them in the long run.

 

[pcrawfordpt]

I use them on my TJ…has 35x12.5x15 tires. All that extra rotating rubber mass for a 15 inch wheel was taking a ton of weights. I decided to take the leap and try the Dynamic Beads. They work great. Never had to rebalance the tires ever again. Have been through two sets of tires with them. Just simply had to rotate them. I had the issue you described once. As I use a valve core removal air down tool. A bead got stuck and I couldn’t completely seat the valve core. Had to remove it and put in a new core and re-inflate. I switched to a Trail Deflator/Coyote type deflator after that and never had another issue. Also, Dynabeads have an “off road” bead that is bigger and much less likely to interfere when airing down. You do have to put them in at install as they will not fit through the valve core opening easily.
I do not use them on my Gladiator as I have not had an issue with balancing the tires on the 17” wheels.

 

[AustinL911]

I have them in my 35s. Not exactly sure why I went with them; sounded like a good idea at the time. I did zero research before pulling the trigger. My fault. That being said, they work just fine 99% of the time. When they become a pain in the butt is during a rolling stop, like if I coast through a stop sign at low speed. I don't know what it is, except for maybe they all fall to one side and get stuck there as I re-accelerate. I will get a WICKED out of balance vibration once I hit about 40+. I usually have to come to a complete stop and then take off again, after which it will be completely fine. If I had to do it over again, I'd just go with traditional weights.

 

[kevman65]

When airing down, you want the valve stem as close to top dead center as possible. You've already discovered why.

When airing up, it doesn't matter where the stem is, the beads can't push against the air.

 

[MoxiesDad]

Discount Tire talked my brother-in-law into using the balancing beads when he went to 37's on his JK Rubicon. He ran into the same issues when airing down. After multiple issues he went back, had the beads removed and weights installed.

 

[Minty JL]

Yeah. I have a local guy that's an ASE and Nissan Master tech that has a Hunter Roadforce balancer & mounter in his home garage and he does all of my tires. He was able to get perfect 0's on my 37x13.5 on Method Wheels.

Beads are mehh. If the shop insist on them.......they normally have shitty machines and techs that are working flat rate that want to get you in and out with NO effort

 

[cmcveay]

Thanks for all of the replies and I have a potential solution to the clogged valve core that I'm going to try before I spend most of a day breaking down 5 beadlocks to vacuum out the beads. Counteract, one of many companies that sell balance beads, has a filtered valve core that I'm told addresses the issue. They have dealer along the way to our destination this week so I'm going to get some of them and see how they work.

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